Data networks contain various network devices, such as switches, for sending and receiving data between two locations. For example, frame relay and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (“ATM”) networks contain interconnected network devices that allow data packets or cells to be channeled over a circuit through the network from a host device to a remote device. For a given network circuit, the data from a host device is delivered to the network through a physical circuit such as a T1 line that links to a switch of the network. The remote device that communicates with the host through the network also has a physical circuit to a switch of the network. A network circuit also includes a logical circuit which includes a variable communication path for data between the switches associated with the host and the remote device.
In large-scale networks, the host and remote end devices of a network circuit may be connected across different local access and transport areas (“LATAs”) which may be in turn be connected to one or more Inter-Exchange Carriers (“IEC”) for transporting data between the LATAs. These connections are made through physical trunk circuits utilizing fixed logical connections known as Network-to-Network Interfaces (“NNIs”).
Periodically, failures may occur to the trunk circuits or the NNIs of network circuits in large-scale networks causing lost data. Currently, such network circuit failures are handled by dispatching technicians on each end of the network circuit (i.e., in each LATA) in response to a reported failure. The technicians manually access a logical element module to troubleshoot the logical circuit portion of the network circuit. The logical element module communicates with the switches in the data network and provides the technician with the status of the logical connections which make up the logical circuit. Once the technician determines the status of a logical connection at one end of a logical circuit (e.g., the host end), the technician then must access a network database to determine the location of the other end of the logical circuit so that its status may also be ascertained. If the technician determines the logical circuit is operating properly, the technician then accesses a physical element module to troubleshoot the physical circuit portion of the network circuit to determine the cause of the failure and then repair it.
Current methods of repairing network circuit failures, however, suffer from several drawbacks. One drawback is that repairing logical and physical circuits is time consuming, resulting in dropped data packets or cells until the repair is completed. If a technician determines that a network circuit will be “down” (i.e., losing data) for an extended time period while troubleshooting a network circuit, the technician may manually reroute the data from a failed network circuit to an available unused or “backup” network circuit while the failed network circuit is being repaired. For example, troubleshooting a physical circuit often requires taking the network circuit out of service to perform testing, thus increasing the downtime and loss of data in the network circuit. These backup network circuits, however, are often limited in capacity and thus may not be able to reroute all of the data from one or more failed network circuits. Furthermore, network circuit customers have no control over which logical circuit data is to be rerouted or when a technician will decide to initiate a reroute. It is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.